The paupers of Manhattan were long maintained by a weekly pittance granted by the authorities, in compliance with a law passed in 1699. The first public Almshouse, the need of which had long been felt, was erected in 1734, and stood on the northwestern extremity of what was long known as "the commons," on the site of the present New York Courthouse. It was a two-story wooden structure 46 by 24 feet, with cellar, and was furnished with spinning wheels, shoemaker's tools, and other implements of labor. The church wardens were appointed overseers of the poor with authority to require labor of all paupers under penalty of moderate correction. The establishment contained a school for children, and was also a house of correction where masters were allowed to send unruly slaves for punishment. In 1795, a lottery of £10,000 was granted for the erection of a new building. A fine brick edifice, which was destroyed by fire in 1854, was accordingly erected on the site of the old building. After the location of the City Hall was agreed upon, the authorities resolved to remove the Almshouse. A tract of land on the East river, at the foot of Twenty-sixth street, was purchased, and the corner stone of the new Almshouse laid August 1, 1811. This edifice was of bluestone, with a front 325 feet, and two wings of 150 feet each, and was opened for inmates April 22, 1816. The Alms House was for many years under the management of five commissioners, appointed by the Common Council; in 1845 it was placed under the control of one commissioner; in 1849 the "Ten Governor" system was introduced; and in 1859 the number was changed to four, to be appointed by the Comptroller of the City, representing the different political parties. The new charter of 1870 has changed the number of the commissioners to five. The buildings at Bellevue became too small, and as they were not suitably arranged for the different classes of inmates, the authorities in 1834 or 1835, erected extensive buildings a short distance south of Astoria, to which the children were transferred. These buildings consisted of a boys', a girls' and an infant "Nursery," and of appropriate school buildings, and were sold at public auction April 15, 1847. In 1828, Blackwell's Island was purchased by the City, and Randall's Island in 1835. In 1847, ship-fever prevailed frightfully among the Almshouse population at Bellevue, producing great mortality. Some persons entered the clerk's office and fell dead while their names were being registered. The new buildings now in use on Blackwell's Island were erected in 1847, and the inmates removed to them in the spring of 1848. The Almshouse department occupies the central portion of the island, and is presided over by a separate warden, who resides in the cosy wood cottage for a long period the mansion of the Blackwell's family, and said to be more than a hundred years old. The buildings erected in 1847 are of stone, and consist of two separate and similar structures, 650 feet apart, are entirely distinct in their arrangement, and each devoted to one sex only. They each consist of a central four-story 50 feet square, 57 feet high to the roof, and 87 to the top of the cupola, with two wings, each 60 by 90 feet, and 40 feet high. Each floor is encircled with an outside iron veranda with stairways of the same material. These buildings comfortably accommodate about six hundred persons each, adults only being admitted.

They are always tolerably well filled, though the great pressure is in mid-winter, and, on one occasion, eighteen hundred were huddled within these walls. No one can visit the New York Almshouse without being surprised with its exquisite neatness, and the perfect discipline and regularity that reign everywhere through the buildings and grounds. The warden, Mr. James Owens, with no paid help except his clerk and the matrons, has for a number of years conducted this Institution, filled with ten or fifteen hundred aged, blind, and infirm persons, with an economy and skill deserving of special mention. The floors and walls throughout are as clean as soap, sand, and lime can make them. The beds are better kept than in our first-class hotels. Every morning they are all taken to pieces, the ticks and the bedsteads thoroughly brushed, after which they are readjusted and covered with a white counterpane. This simple process of brushing has preserved the Institution for years from all attacks of vermin. Not an empty garment can be found lying or hanging in one of the wards. The food which is ample and nutritious, is regularly and neatly served. But, inviting as are the buildings, the grounds are still more attractive. The walks have all been neatly covered with flag-stones or gravel; the flower and vegetable gardens, and the lawns with their thrifty trees, exhibit much taste and cultivation. Not a straw can be found on one of the walks or the carriage-ways, on every one of which may daily be seen the marks of the broom. The Almshouses were formerly the refuge of imbeciles, lunatics, and of able-bodied vagrants, as well as of the old and infirm. The former are now provided for in the Lunatic Asylum, and the latter very properly sent to the Workhouse. On the arrival, of an inmate, he is immediately subjected to a bath, is warmly clad in new garments, after which he is conveyed to the Warden's office and formally admitted. He then undergoes an examination by the House Physician, from whom he receives a card, stating the ward and class to which he belongs. They are divided into fours classes as follows: 1. Able bodied men. 2. Able to perform light labor, and serve as orderlies of the different wards. 3. Able to sweep the grounds or break stones. 4. Exempt on account of disease or old age. Some exhibit a willingness to perform all they are able, and others, addicted to idleness, are ready to evade toil with every pretext. It is the duty of the Physician to discriminate between them, and those assigned to light toil are compelled to submit on pain of being discharged. This admirable system of classification, introduced by the Commissioners, has saved the corporation from supporting armies of able bodied vagrants, and made the Almshouse population about fifty per cent. less than it was twenty years ago.